The Stranger
by haven1elizabeth
Summary: Hermione remains injured after the battle at the ministry. Faith has a critical injury from fighting some death eaters and dementors. Faith helps Hermione recover; and the two become friends almost instantly. Can Hermione and Faith help Harry fight Voldemort or will they die trying?
1. Faith

**Disclaimer: I do not own any Harry Potter characters or people in this story, except for the cat and unnamed girl.**

**Summary: After the war at the Ministry of Magic, Hermione is the only one who remains critically injured. A young first-year named Faith, with permanent injury, and her cat, Sheba, become Hermione's assistants while she heals. The Golden Trio and their friends become deep friends with Faith and help her recover the ability to do magic, which is very slow and painful.**

Hermione woke, for a fifteenth time, having no clue what happened. Her friends were growing tired of having to repeat the story to her each time she woke. "Ron, Harry?" Hermione asked painfully.

"You don't remember what happened?" Ron asked sighing.

"No, I don't. I'm also really hungry." Hermione smiled a little. She thought about how Ron is _always_ hungry.

"Faith could you come over here?" Ron shouted across the room.

A tall, but young, first-year girl appeared carrying a gray-black cat with a raccoon-like tail and a black stripe reaching from its head to its tail. The rest of the cat was a mix of white, black, and gray fur, so mixed up the cat was really any of those colors. It was kind of silvery gray with small dark spots. The cats underbelly was mostly orange, as well as its jaw. The cat had tan circles around its eyes and nose and had small black lines all over its face. The girl wore tan shorts that reached her knees and a torques shirt with a giant black hand in the middle and, in giant white print across it, 'Kid Worship'. Her hair was shoulder length and dark brown and her eyes a very light green, almost white. They were a very unusual a couple.

"Yes, sir?" the girl asked. Ron glared at her, "I mean, yes Ron." The girl placed the cat at the end of the bed and walked over to Hermione. She carefully lifted Hermione's head and propped up two pillows for Hermione to lay against. Then she placed one arm under Hermione's legs and another under Hermione's back; and scooted her backward.

Hermione winced when some pain came from her rib cage; the girl muttered sorry, sat at the end of the bed, and picked up the cat. "At the battle you had at the ministry, Dolohov shot you with a curse, which has made you extremely susceptible to pain and caused you a great deal of pain. You'll have to take ten potions a day and you'll probably be stuck in here for about two weeks.." the girl pet the cat, making it purr. "Neville broke his nose, Luna stunned, and Ginny broke her ankle, they are well now. Sirius Black murdered by Bellatrix Lestrange. please try not to move much you are still very vulnerable.

Madame Promfrey appeared from her office, "Hermione, nice to see you are awake, do you know Faith?"

"No, I don't think so." Hermione didn't recognize the girl. Wait, wasn't she pushed into the lake by another first year?

"Faith has suffered from a terrible brain injury that prevents her from doing magic; so she has become my assistant. In your state she will help you move around and do anything that you need help with, kind of like a house elf except no cruel treatment or unfair wages." Madame Promfrey placed a hand of Faith's shoulder.

Hermione remembered S.P.E.W. and opened her mouth to protest, but suddenly pain began coming in waves from her ribs. Hermione whimpered and covered her ribs in trying to lessen the pain.

"Oh, you need your potions." Madame Promfrey left.

Hermione turned to Ron and Harry, "Sirius is dead?"

"We don't want to talk about it." Harry said, seemingly forcing a neutral attitude. Hermione wanted to cry, sure Sirius was a bit of a troublemaker and she had known it would catch up with him. But she never knew it would kill him, Hermione began having trouble breathing.

Madame Promfrey appeared with all types of potions. Hermione managed to choke them down; all of them tasted like boogie flavored jelly beans. But almost immediately, she felt better. Faith left to get some food for Hermione, Hermione protested, "I'm not hungry. There's no need to go get food."

Despite what she just said, Hermione's stomach growled loudly enough for Madame Promfrey to hear. "So you aren't hungry? I guess that was just the dog."

Hermione couldn't help but laugh, but stopped when her ribs began to ache. Faith reappeared with a tray of food, fresh bread, soup, and juice. Hermione said thank you and began eating. Faith sat down besides Harry and Ron, who soon left.

Hermione finished her food and lay on her side. Faith cleared the trays and closed the curtains to the next bed over so she could change. Hermione couldn't help but notice a tear in the curtain, she was about to look away but her curiosity got the best of her.

Hermione barely lifted her head so she could peek through, Faith stood turned away from Hermione with her shirt off. She already wore some pajama pants; Hermione noticed something very weird. A scar ran down Faith's spine; and a giant burn ran from Faith's left shoulder, across the scar and ended three inches after crossing the scar. It looked a lot like a burn from a fire, but was dead and black. Hermione shivered, whatever gave Faith that must have caused her much pain.

Hermione turned over and fell asleep; but the dream didn't feel like a dream. She saw the entire battle at the ministry, but through Harry's point of view. She saw Dolohov curse her, Ginny limping, Luna stunned, Neville having his nose broken, Ron being attacked by brains, and Sirius death. It was all too real, but then it ended.

Hermione was standing in some place of darkness. Harry, Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, and Faith all stood in front of her; smiling. Hermione tried to walk to them, but they just became smaller and smaller. A deep dark voice said, "Hold on to what matters most. Teach the one who can't how to. In the end, that one will sacrifice themselves for you." _What were they talking about? Hold on to what matters most? Teach the person what? What cant that person do? Why would they sacrifice themselves?_

The ground underneath Hermione disappeared, and she fell down through a dark pit. Something caught her and then a kind, soft voice said, "Hermione wake up, I can't hold you any longer." _What were they talking about?_

Hermione woke up, somebody was holding her. It was too dark to see clearly, so Hermione squirmed and kicked out. "Hermione stop it before you hurt yourself or somebody else." the voice hissed.

Hermione yelled for help, the voice grew a bit louder, "Please be quiet before you wake the others."

Hermione, forgetting where she was and why, turned to her attacker. She could see the faint line of their head through the very dim moon light that barely went through the curtains. Hermione reached forward and grabbed their throat, both her and her attacker fell to the ground.

Pain exploded from Hermione's chest; she ignored it, gritting her teeth as she choked whoever had attacked her. The person pulled at Hermione's arms in an attempt to free themselves, Hermione pulled back her left arm, keeping the right one tight around their throat, and punched them in the gut. Or at least she thought she would hit their stomach, but she hit their shoulder. The person yelped and began gasping for air; Hermione reached for her wand, but it wasn't in her pocket.

Light brightened the room, Madame Promfrey came to Hermione's rescue. Well, maybe not. Madame Promfrey gasped, "Mrs. Granger, what is the matter with you?" Hermione turned to the person in her grasp, it was Faith! Hermione let go and backed up.

"Faith, what happened?" Madame Promfrey asked.

Faith was breathing heavy, trying to regain her breath. "Hermione was squirming around, so I got out of bed. A second later, Hermione fell off and I caught her. She woke and tried to get free. Then, she turned towards me and started strangling me."

"Are either of you hurt?" Madame Promfrey examined both girls.

Hermione immediately felt the waves of pain coming from her rib cage, she cringed. "Hermione, are you okay?" Faith stood up, but fell over and cringing, trying to touch her back. Madame Promfrey picked up Hermione and placed her in bed, and turned to Faith.

"I'm fine, Hermione punched my shoulder thinking I was attacking her. Care for Hermione." Faith said.

Madame Promfrey went to get Hermione some potions and gave them to her. The pain receded, Hermione lifted her head to look down on Faith. Faith got up from the floor, and sat on the other bed. Hermione pretended to sleep, because after the ordeal she wasn't very tired. Madame Promfrey walked up; "You had another episode, didn't you?"

Faith nodded, Hermione noticed that she looked exhausted. Madame Promfrey put a hand on Faith's back, Faith jerked at the touch, this apparently wasn't a good sign because Madame Promfrey frowned, "Faith let me check you back."

Faith reached behind her and pulled up her shirt, leaning forward. Hermione almost gasped, but held her tongue since she probably should have been asleep. The scar of Faith's back had grown in size and turned red; the burn mark had turned white and was causing Faith much discomfort. Madame Promfrey cast some charms, the burn mark turned black again and the scar shrunk back to its original size and turned pink instead of red. Faith straightened and pulled her shirt down; Madame Promfrey sat down beside her.

"I wish I could completely take those away, but it is beyond any Healer's power." she said.

Faith nodded, "Death eaters almost always can figure out a way to fool magicians. But that really helped, thank you."

"Wait, Death eaters? I thought you were hit by a car." Madame Promfrey hesitated.

Faith smiled, "You forgot, didn't you?"

Madame Promfrey glared, "I have many patients to take care of, too many ailments and cures to remember for me to even try to remember every kid's injuries."

"Okay, I was just joking. Here," Faith took out a tablet like thing and pressed a button on it.

Madame Promfrey looked at it, "What is that?"

"This is a special kind of tablet sort of thing I received from healers at the Wizard hospital. It can do a few basic spells, but not very many and stored memories, because I can't even use a pensieve." Faith pressed a different button, a hologram of a computer generated smiley face appeared above the tablet's screen. "What do you need Faith?" it asked in a computer voice.

"Search for memory of Death eater attack." Faith said in a clear voice.

The smiley face disappeared and a bunch of files appeared. One titled 'memories' appeared, the file opened and a bunch of other files appeared. The file marked 'Death Eaters' opened and a disc appeared. The disk began circling in the hologram and faded away while another began fading into place.

A scene showing, some kids playing soccer appeared. They were playing on a field; and Hermione immediately recognized Faith. Faith was a little shorter than, but still tall and mostly unchanged from her current appearance. Everyone wore black shorts and a white shirt, with either pink stripes on the side if it was a girl or blue if it was a boy. Half the kids wore green, lace pennies over their shirt and the other half wore yellow. Faith wore a green one, which was too large.

The kids were playing, Faith's team winning. There were five minutes left in the game, when rain clouds covered the sky and it began to pour down rain and lightning flashed. Then, a mix of death eaters and dementors landed on the ground.

The coach told the kids to run; but dementors surrounded them. A bunch of the girls and a few boys began crying; and others were quivering in fear. One of the death eaters rolled their eyes, "We don't want you whimpering kids." he said when the coach asked what they wanted. "We want... her." The death eater pointed at Faith.

The coach stood in front of the kids, "You can't have any of them. Kidnapping is against the law."

"Kidnapping is against the law." One of the death eaters said in a mocking tone. "Oh, don't worry. We're just going to kill her."

The coach stepped in front of Faith, "Leave before I call the cops."

"Ooh, I'm so afraid." The death eater said, they raised their wand and shot a stupefy spell at the coach. The coach fell over, stunned. "Attack." Another said, the dementors began attacking the kids by feasting on their hopes and dreams and happiness.

Many kids screamed or cried from the pain; a few kids were beginning to lose their souls when finally one of the death eaters sent in a patronus. His patronus was a huge bear and quickly scared off the dementors and disappeared.

One of the death eaters called one of the dementors and told it to go get Faith. The dementor tried to grab Faith, who tried to escape. The dementor grabbed her arm and twisted, there was a pop and it was obvious that the dementor had dislocated Faith's shoulder. Faith yelled for help, but the other kids whimpered in fear and the dementor took her towards the death eater.

The Death eater smiled, "You want to know something girl, you are a witch. You can do magic, we've heard of you. But we aren't about to let you escape; you are coming with us." The Death eater formed another patronus and the dementor left; before Faith could escape he grabbed her arm. "But first, lets pay a little visit to your parents."

The scene disappeared, and the death eaters and Faith appeared in somebody's living room. A young couple sat, having tea on a couch, they stood at the sight of Faith. The woman shivered, "Faith, what is this?"

They were the average couple. The man was really tall with sandy hair and Faith's eyes. The woman was a head shorter than her husband with deep black hair and brown, caring eyes.

"Just so you know, your daughter's a witch. Meaning she can do magic." The Death eater pointed at Faith. "Normally, she'd be taken to Hogwarts and learn magic. But we aren't doing that, this time; we're taking her to our place and teach her to follow us or die. But, to cover up our tail, we have to kill you."

Faith hadn't been moving much because of her shoulder; but hearing that her parents would die, she began trying to pull away. "No, you can't!"

"Quiet child!" One death eater said. Faith shook her head and kicked the man who was holding her in the shin. The death eater yelled, another took out his wand and threw a cruciatus curse at her. Faith fell to the floor and began withering and screaming in pain.

The Death eater continued to play the curse out until the death eater who Faith had kicked rolled his eyes and said, "Okay, we don't want the kid to go insane! Save it for later!" over the screams. The Death eater performing the curse grunted, and stopped the curse leaving Faith breathing heavy on the floor.

"Let our daughter go!" yelled the man.

"Ooh, scary." One death eater lifted his wand and was about to kill the man. Faith stood up, a bit shaky, and yelled, "No, dad!" The Death eater rolled his eyes, pointed his wand at Faith, saying "Do you ever shut up?! Crucio!" Faith fell over and began screaming in pain again.

Then, the roof of the house torn off its foundation. Two Death eaters sent killing curses at the couple; but they merely bounced off the couple and back at their casters. The Death Eaters who cast the spells fell over, dead. Out of the hole in roof apparated Mad-eye Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, and Severus Snape. The wizards and witches began fighting all except for Tonks and Lupin, who helped the couple away from trouble. Lupin then passed through the battle, grabbed Faith and took her to her parents.

Faith was shaking terribly, and hugged her parents, partly because she could barely walk. Tonks placed her hand on Faith well shoulder, "Are you okay?" Faith nodded.

"We need to get you three out of here. But let us explain first." Lupin said. "I am Remus Lupin, but you can call me Remus. This is my wife Nymphadora Tonks, she likes the name Tonks or Dora. We and everyone else here is either a wizard, if they are male, or a witch, if they are female. They are able to do magic. Those men who appeared with your daughter are Death Eaters. They are loyal to a man named Voldemort who was to killed but has come back to life. The rest of us are here to help you. The reason they are here is because your daughter is a witch and can do magic. We just found out this morning; are were trying to find her. But the Death Eaters found her first and are trying to take her to Voldemort and either kill her or, they hope at least, torture her into being loyal to them. We have to get her to Hogwarts where she'll be safe. Voldemort is taking a large risk trying to kidnap new wizards and witches, but he has taken it. Don't worry, there are other Voldemort is after. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley are the kids he wants to kill most. And Faith is their distant sibling because Harry's great, great-grandfather made another family line and Faith is one of his descendents. Common we need to leave."

"Wait, so a dead man is sending men to try to kill my daughter. And you and those people are fighting for us. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley are the cause of all this?" The mom asked.

"No, they are trying to stop this. Voldemort is the cause of this." Lupin explained. "Everyone duck."

The couple, Tonks, Lupin, and Faith ducked and a crucio curse flew over their heads. The couple, Lupin, and Tonks stood up again, but Faith couldn't get up again. Tonks bit her lip, "Its okay, as soon as we get to Hogwarts we need to get you to the hospital wing."

The five of them disapparated to right outside Hogwarts' grounds. The couple was about to throw up, and Faith couldn't stand up on her own any more. Tonks ran to the school for help and pretty soon Mad-eye Moody, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, and Severus Snape appeared. "Did we win?" Lupin asked.

"Yes, barely though." said Moody. He focused his crazy eye on Faith, "You're a tough kid to get through that." Then he looked at the couple, "Are you her parents?"

The couple nodded, "I would be proud of her if I were you." Moody looked around. "We need to get them all up to the school, they all look like they're about to pass out."

They began hiking up the hill, when Hagrid, Dumbledore, and almost all the teachers ran down over to the group. "Here are carry her." Hagrid picked up Faith in his huge arms; Faith yelped and began to try to get away. "Its okay Faith, Hagrid is a teacher at Hogwarts. The only reason he's so huge is because he's half giant." Lupin said.

The group went to the school, Madame Promfrey began healing Faith and her parents while Dumbledore began talking about Hogwarts. But Hermione was starting to give in to sleep. She could no longer see the video.

Hermione was in the dark room again. Again the voice said, ""Hold on to what matters most. Teach the one who can't how to. In the end, that one will sacrifice themselves for you." Then Harry stepped forward and said, "Choose who matters most in the end, the decision will change your life." Ron began laughing and spoke, "Choose the way that is out of your comfort." Luna stepped forward, "Or watch darkness take hold of you." Neville and Ginny spoke in unison, "Remember Hermione, choose the way that may get you in trouble, or watch darkness control your life."

The scene disappeared, and Hermione was sitting on one of the beds in the hospital wing. Faith was laying in one of the beds with her cat; with Hermione's body in the next bed over. Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe entered the hospital wing and began walking towards Hermione's body.

Hermione tried to get up, but something held her in place. The three boys were joking about 'giving the girl a taste of some medicine'. Faith's cat looked at them and gently tapped Faith on the head. Faith barely lifted her head and saw the boys.

Faith silently slid out of bed and clapped twice, standing up at the same time. Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe jumped in surprise as a lamp turned on. Draco recovered quickly, "Oh look its Miss Can't Do Magic."

"Let's have a pop-quiz. Who isn't supposed allowed here after curfew?" Faith paused. "Oh, it's you. Now get out before I call Madame Promfrey."

"Well, maybe we want to have some fun first." Draco said. All three boys raised their wands and shot a spell at Faith that shoved her backwards into the wall. Hermione was pretty sure Faith had bit her tongue because something red darkened the edges of Faith's mouth.

Faith stood up, shaking a bit, she took out her wand. "Trying to prove you can't do magic, oh how sweet." Draco placed his hand to his chest dramatically.

Faith shot a stupefy curse at the boys; who collapsed to the ground. Faith fell over and was shaking. Hermione felt her surroundings change; she was in bed, Faith shaking on the ground, and Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle were on the ground, stupefied.

Madame Promfrey came running into the room. After taking a quick look, she ran to Faith's side. "Faith, what happened?"

Faith tried to speak but just started coughing up blood. Hermione spoke instead, "Draco, Goyle, and Crabbe came into the hospital wing. She tried to stop them, and they used a curse to throw her into the wall. Then she stupefied all of them."

Madame Promfrey glanced at the boys; she picked up Faith set her on one of the beds. Faith was shaking as if she were having a seizure. Madame Promfrey formed a patronus, Hermione couldn't tell what it was though, she told it to go tell Snape to bring the potions for Faith this instant. The patronus left; and Madame Promfrey told Faith to calm down.

Hermione saw that Faith hands looked like they were burnt. Snape appeared with some different potions, but Hermione didn't see what happened next because a huge amount of pain erupted from her rib cage, making Hermione pass out.

**I have to end here; I think this is the longest chapter I've ever done. Next chapter, Faith will recover almost immediately and then there will be a battle. Please review.**


	2. The battle

**Disclaimer: I own none of these people except Faith, Sheba, and Gilligan (a boy who _loves_ battles). Those three I keep locked in my room, just kidding. You should know, Sheba is actually the name of one of my cats and the description is what she looks like. That is how I came up with that character. Faith looks a little like me but we are still different and I have no idea why I came up with Gilligan.**

**Summary: Faith recovers from casting a spell and Hermione can sit up on her own again. Draco and his friends attack Harry and Ron when they're exiting the Hospital Wing when visiting Hermione. Disaster strikes during the battle and more injuries occur.**

Hermione woke up, pain was still coming from her rib cage but it wasn't as rough now. Madame Promfrey stood over Hermione, "Good your awake." she said. "Are you okay?"

Hermione lifted her head a little, she saw Faith and her cat in the bed next to her. The cat purred up close to Faith as if it were trying to keep her warm and safe. "What happened?" Hermione asked groggy. Man she sounded terrible, her voice sounded like a frog speaking English for the first time.

Madame Promfrey looked towards Faith and the cat as well. "Faith can't do magic. It's something wrong that happened when some death eaters attacked. When she stupefied three boys it should have killed her. Faith's tough though and we had the correct potions that would keep her from dying and help her heal if this were to happen. For some reason when you shifted in bed something moved in your ribs and that caused a huge amount of pain to knock you unconscious." Madame Promfrey explained.

"Is she okay?" Hermione asked.

"She may take a while to recover but she'll probably be up and walking again in a little while." Madame Promfrey shrugged.

Right after she said that Faith opened her eyes and blinked a few times. Her cat stood up stretched and chirruped before rubbing its head against one of Faith's hands. Faith smiled and pet it behind the ears. "Are you okay Faith?" Madame Promfrey asked.

Faith shifted a little and winced, "Not really, what happened?"

Madame Promfrey explained what happened and then walked into her office. Hermione, for reasons she didn't know, fell back asleep.

Hermione woke later, Faith's cat was laying on top of her. Finally seeing it up close, Hermione noticed how soft the cat's fur was and how kind its eyes were. Faith reached up and gently stroked the top of its head. The cat pushed its head up at the touch to encourage more petting. It was then that Hermione saw Faith standing beside Hermione's bed. She was holding a tray of food, Hermione could smell chicken noodle soup, toast, and pumpkin juice.

"Thank you Sheba." Faith said, the cat got off of Hermione, and jumped to Faith's bed.

Faith set up the food in front of Hermione and helped her sit up. Hermione noticed bad burns on Faith's hands. The skin was pink and black, Hermione pointed at this. "That's from casting a spell isn't it?" she asked.

Faith nodded and sat next to the cat who jumped up on her shoulder. "Is that Sheba"?" Hermione asked.

Faith smiled and pet the cat's back, "Yes, my parents bought her when I was eight. She was just a kitten then, barely a year old."

Sheba began scratching her ear, and without warning toppled forward because she had put her weight forward. Faith caught her, Sheba probably would have blushed if she could have but just jumped to the floor and licked her paws as if nothing happened.

Hermione laughed, then she remembered how most food comes from the Hogwarts kitchen. _I wonder if the elves made this_ said Hermione staring at her soup and toast.

Faith noticed, "Is something wrong?"

Hermione shook her head, "Not really, but did you get this from the elves?"

Faith tilted her head, "Kind of, I cooked it myself but I used their supplies. Don't worry I paid them for using it."

Hermione felt better hearing that the elves were given some respect and continued eating. Faith took out a book and began reading.

Madame Promfrey's Point of View

It had been a day since the accident. Faith recovered very quickly from stupefying three boys and Hermione could sit up on her own. Madame Promfrey laid down in bed, today had been very tiring. A fifth year had been fight with some other fifth years and ended up with a broken arm and jaw, and two of the kids he were fighting with had a broken arm and black eyes. And then three kids had all given themselves boils in a accident.

Harry and Ron would be coming tomorrow after lunch to talk with Hermione, _Maybe Faith and I can teach Hermione how to talk before that. _Madame Promfrey smiled, _Those two are really good friends, finally Faith has somebody to talk to and be friends with. Poor thing has been locked up in Hogwarts ever since the accident at the town._ Madame Promfrey fell asleep from exhaustion.

When she woke up Hermione was studying and Faith and Sheba were... nowhere to be seen. _Stop worrying you know good and well that Faith can take care of herself._ Madame Promfrey told herself.

Faith and Sheba walked through the door seconds later. Faith had breakfast for Hermione, orange juice, poached eggs, and toast. Sheba carried two lizards in her mouth. Madame Promfrey didn't like having animals in her hospital wing but Sheba was such a good cat and so well trained that she wouldn't disturb Madame Promfrey's routine for all the mice in the universe.

Hermione ate breakfast while Faith set up flashcards. Harry and Ron came through the door laughing. They were early it was only first class they should be in Potions, "Boys quiet your voices! What are you doing here, you should be in class?"

Ron snickered, "Crabbe knocked over this acid-like thing, potions was cancelled so we decided to visit Hermione early."

"Okay, but make it quick." Madame Promfrey allowed them to stay.

Ron's Point of View

"Harry and I have to go, see you later Hermione." Ron waved to Hermione and Faith as he left. _Ah man, I forgot to ask her about my potions essay. Oh well I'll ask her later._ Ron thought.

Draco stood in front of them, "Well, what do we have here."

"Dig yourself a grave and die in it Draco." Ron snapped.

Draco growled, "Ronald just earned himself some pay back."

Ron toppled into the wall when Draco sent a curse at his head.

Hermione's Point of View

Some banging came from right outside the hospital wing. Faith went to go check it out with her cat Sheba.

When Faith opened the door, Sheba hissed and jumped to the side. Faith hit the floor as a curse flew into the room and disappeared after hitting the wall.

Hermione saw some figures enter the room and throwing curses at each other. She immediately recognized Harry, Ron, Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle as well as a boy she didn't know.

Sheba hissed as one of them threw a curse at Faith, who rolled to the side to keep from getting hit. Hermione looked for her wand, she couldn't see it. She tried to get up but was forced to lay down from pain. Hermione watched hopelessly from the side lines.

The boy Hermione didn't know tackled Faith when she stood up. Sheba hissed, growled, and then sunk her teeth into the boy's leg. The boy screamed and shot a stupefy curse at Sheba. Sheba went limp, Faith took a glance at her cat. "You're going to pay for that!" she yelled before tackling the boy.

The boy hit his head on the wall and in anger aimed a well placed kick at Faith's stomach. Faith toppled backwards from the force only to be trampled on by Harry and Crabbe who had engaged in a fist fight.

Draco kicked Ron in the stomach who toppled over. Draco was about to kick him again when Faith grabbed him from behind. Draco twisted free and punched Faith in the stomach. Madame Promfrey ordered everybody to stop, Faith looked towards Madame Promfrey. The boy Hermione didn't know took the opportunity to push Faith to the ground, before Faith knew what was going on the boy kicked her in the stomach. Faith tried to cover her stomach, the boy grabbed her arm, lifted her up, and sent a charm on her that flew her into the wall.

Crabbe was knocked unconscious by Harry and Goyle accidentally stupefied Draco. Harry and Ron tried to fight Goyle while Faith slid down the wall from the curse the unknown boy sent at her.

Suddenly Sheba got up, and latched onto the unknown boy's leg again. The boy shot another stupefy curse at her but the cat dodged it and sunk its teeth in even deeper.

The boy screamed, Faith tackled him. The boy used his legs to kick Faith off of him as well as Sheba. Faith was barely conscious after being slammed into the wall a second time.

Goyle stupefied Harry and was then tackled by Ron. Goyle went unconscious, Ron looked up and ran at the unknown boy who lifted Faith by her shoulders and slammed her into the wall. On the second slam, Ron tackled him. Faith was unconscious with her cat Sheba trying to wake her up. The boy slammed Ron into the ground making him go unconscious when Madame Promfrey stupefied him.

Everybody was unconscious from Hermione's point of view except for Sheba, Madame Promfrey, and herself. Harry had a nasty black eye and bruises on his head and stomach. Ron had many bruises on his arms, stomach, head, and a bump on the back of his head. Faith had a couple of bruises on her arms and head but her main injuries were her stomach and ribs, which was making blood drip out of her mouth, and a bump on the back of her head. Sheba lay beside Faith trying to get her to wake up. Hermione didn't care about the rest.

Madame Promfrey turned towards Hermione, "Are you okay?"

Hermione said she was fine, nobody had really noticed her.

Madame Promfrey moved all the kid's to separate beds. Hermione through sheer will got to her feet and used nightstands and beds to lean on as she hobbled towards Sheba and Faith. Hermione picked up Sheba, partly to comfort herself and partly to comfort the cat. Hermione picked her way back to bed and lie down with the cat. "It's okay." Hermione said stroking Sheba's soft fur.

Hermione soon fell asleep to the mesmerizing sound of the cat's deep and strong purrs.

**So what do you think? Thank for the reviews so far and I hope I get more at time progresses. Constructive criticism and cheerful encouragement are always welcome as well as any request for what to do in the next few chapters. Any request I will consider doing at some point in this series.**


	3. First day of school

**Hey, what's up? I never told you what would happen in this chapter but now I will. So Harry, Ron, and Faith recover from the battle. Hermione can walk on her own again but when she starts to go back to class that doesn't become a blessing any more.**

Hermione snapped awake, she was in the hospital wing. It took her a second to remember why. Hermione felt something laying with her, she looked it was Sheba. Sheba stood up and rubbed against Sheba's side.

Hermione looked around, to her right lay Ron and Harry and on her left Faith, Draco, Crabbe and who cared about the other two boys. Sheba jumped off the bed and tried to wake up Faith by tapping her on the head.

Faith didn't wake up, Sheba tilted her head and tapped Faith again. Faith didn't respond. Hermione wondered if she should stop Sheba.

Then Madame Promfrey appeared, "Sheba down!"

Sheba jumped in surprise, and jumped to Hermione's bed as if nothing happened.

"How do you feel Hermione?" Madame Promfrey asked.

"Fine will my friends be okay?" Hermione asked.

Madame Promfrey nodded, "Yes but I'll keep them another night."

Hermione nodded and sat up, Madame Promfrey gave her breakfast and then left.

Hermione pet Sheba for a while, she grew bored. Hermione looked for something to do, there was a few books on her side table. Hermione took one of them and began reading without glancing at the title. "Wait this isn't one of my books."

Hermione couldn't recognize the words, she looked a the title, _The Cat who God_ _Sent_. That was one of Faith's books.

Hermione looked at her own side table, there was nothing there but some cards and a lamp. Hermione shrugged and continued reading the book, Faith wouldn't mind. The book was pretty interesting, but despite its size it only took Hermione about two hours to finish it. Hermione put it back.

Then Ron and Harry woke, at the same time Madame Promfrey came in. Madame Promfrey explained what happened the boys had something to eat but before Hermione could start a conversation, fell back asleep.

Madame Promfrey looked at Faith, "She should-be a wake by now."

After those words Sheba woke up from her nap at Hermione's feet, stretched, and jumped to Faith's bed. Before Madame Promfrey told her to sit down, Sheba licked Faith's cheek. Faith woke up and blinked a few times before Sheba curled up on her stomach.

Faith lifted her head barely before wincing and turning towards Madame Promfrey. Madame Promfrey explained what happened before getting the two lunch.

Hermione turned to Faith who was rubbing the top of Sheba's head. Apparently Sheba liked it because Hermione could hear her purring like a maniac.

"Sorry." Hermione said.

"What did you do wrong?" Faith asked.

"I don't know but I feel like this whole incident is my fault." Hermione looked down at the floor.

"Did you make them attack us?" Faith asked.

"No." Hermione snapped and glared at Faith. Then she began crying she had snapped at the person was helping her get better and just trying to cheer her up.

Hermione could barely hear Faith whisper something before Sheba came over and squeezed into Hermione's arms. Hermione opened her arms so Sheba could get in easier before gently hugging the cat. She wished she had her cat here.

Sheba began purring, oddly it calmed Hermione down. Hermione sniffed and calmed down a bit before looking up at Faith, "I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"Sorry? I'm worried about you." Faith said.

Hermione lay down and fell asleep to Sheba's purrs.

When Hermione woke it was late morning, she had slept through evening, night, and most the morning. Harry, Ron, and the other boys were gone, but so was Faith and Sheba.

Hermione looked around, there was nobody in the room but her. But then suddenly the floor began to disappear and Hermione fell into darkness screaming. A voice said "Make your decision soon!"

Hermione screamed when she saw all her friends lying on the ground dead. Hermione felt somebody shaking her, the darkness disappeared and Hermione was once again in the hospital wing.

Faith was standing above her, holding her stomach with one hand while shaking Hermione with the other. "Are you okay?" Faith asked.

"Yes just a nightmare." Hermione nodded and pinched herself to make sure it wasn't a dream. Faith fell to her knees, "Faith!"

Hermione looked over the edge of the bed, Faith was on the floor holding her stomach. "Ah, I'm fine, truly... It's my stomach from where Gilligan kicked me." Faith cringed.

"Should I call Madame Promfrey?" Hermione asked.

"No, no I can get it." Faith struggled to her feet and sat in her bed before laying down.

Hermione looked down at Sheba who was still snuggled up again Hermione while staring at Faith. Hermione let go of the cat, "Go on."

Sheba chirruped her thanks before snuggling up next to Faith after jumping to her bed. Hermione thought Faith had fallen asleep until Faith said something that sounded like, "Her... knee... than..."

"What did you say?" Hermione asked.

"I said Hermione thank you." Faith said a bit more clearly.

"Your welcome." Hermione said.

Faith fell asleep, Hermione couldn't stop thinking about the nightmare she had. What type of decision would she have to make? When would she have to make it? Which decision was right?

* * *

Hermione woke up extra early on Monday. It was four days after the battle in the Hospital Wing. Since then Hermione learned to walk without help, Faith could move around freely, and Hermione had caught up on all the school work she had missed with Faith's help.

Today Hermione would attend all her classes again but Madame Promfrey wouldn't let her move back to her dormitory. Faith was going to attend Hermione's classes with her just to make sure that Hermione wasn't in any pain or discomfort.

Crookshanks and Sheba had met and had fun playing with one another. Their favorite game was hide-and-go-seek, one would hide while the other napped and then they would go out and find them. It was quite amusing to watch.

Hermione dressed into her school robes, brushed out her hair as best she could, and laced her shoes while listening to Madame Promfrey's speech. Faith was mostly ready to go and was just waiting for Hermione and listening to Madame Promfrey. "Faith remember to keep an eye on Hermione, bring her back here if she is experiencing any pain. Hermione make sure you tell Faith immediately if you are in any pain. You two come and visit me before lunch and right after classes end then you may go outside if you feel strong enough Hermione."

Hermione grabbed her bag of books and her and Faith went down to the great hall for breakfast. Ron, Harry, Ginny, Neville, and Luna were already at the table and waiting for them.

Almost as soon as they sat down the boy from the battle at the hospital wing appeared. "Hey is this the loser table because Faith's sitting at it?" he said in mocking tone.

Faith turned towards him, "Gilligan don't you have your own 'loser' table to sit at?"

The boy glared at her, "Watch it, I'm friends with Draco and his dad can..."

Faith cut him off, "Can convince the government to do whatever he wants. I know, actually the entire school kind of knows."

The boy looked like he was going to punch Faith but for some reason backed off. "Who was that?" Hermione asked.

"Some first year Slytherin named Gilligan. He loves to get into battles." Faith said.

Soon it was time to go to first block. Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Neville had to go to Potions.

Hermione had a bit of trouble doing her own potion and keeping an eye on Harry's, Ron's, and Neville's. Faith helped her a bit.

Pretty soon they had gotten through most of the day together when Hermione felt some pain in the lower right part of her rib cage. At first she thought it was nothing but the pain began to intensify. Hermione pretended it was nothing until lunch.

Hermione was sitting with Faith on her left Ron on her right when all of a sudden a huge amount of pain erupted from right where Hermione's heart was. Hermione tipped over a large bowl of very hot soup which spilt all over the area where Faith, Hermione, and Ron sat. The hot soup poured off the table and on all three kids laps. The kids stood up to try to keep the soup from pouring on them but some had already spilt on them Hermione hissed in pain as the soup burned her legs. As if to make matters worst the school turned in their direction and another torrent of pain erupted from Hermione's heart. Hermione probably would have collapsed if Faith hadn't caught her and held her from behind.

"Hermione we need to get you to the Hospital Wing." Faith whispered in Hermione's ear.

Hermione didn't respond the soup had burned a whole in her robes and exposed Hermione legs around her knees. The soup was scalding her skin. Hermione looked at Ron's robes, which were in the same shape. Then she looked at Faith's, only Faith was wearing a robe like the others since she technically wasn't a student, she had just worn shorts and a T-shirt. Faith's legs turned red from the soup's hot temperature and the top layer of skin was peeling from heat in some places.

Harry and the others offered to help but Hermione turned it down. As Hermione, Faith, and Ron made their way to the Hospital Wing they met Mrs. Norris with Filch right behind her. Filch swooped down on them, "What are you three doing out walking the grounds? It is time for lunch."

"Hermione has to go to the Hospital Wing because she's experiencing pain from the Battle at the Ministry." Faith answered.

"Well why are you two going as well?" Filch asked, trying to find a reason to take house points.

"Hermione spilt some hot soup at lunch and it spilt on us and burnt are legs so we are going to see Madame Promfrey." Ron said.

"Well seeing that I can't take any house points I'll escort you to the Hospital Wing to make sure you don't try anything stupid."

When the kids got there Hermione felt another burst of pain from her heart, and she went unconscious against Faith.

* * *

When Hermione woke up she was in her hospital bed. Harry and Ron sat in chairs beside her. She couldn't see Faith or Sheba anywhere. "Hermione you're awake!" Ron exclaimed. "You gave us a scare when you passed out."

Hermione sat up, the burns from the soup healed and Hermione couldn't feel any pain from her heart. "Hi. Where are Faith and Sheba?"

"We don't know. They've been gone at least an hour or two." Harry shrugged.

Hermione panicked, "Is anybody out looking for them?"

"Neville and Ginny agreed that they would keep an eye out for them but Madame Promfrey says that they can't put in a full search party unless they goes missing for a whole day." Ron said.

Hermione got out of bed and grabbed her wand, "I want to go look for them."

Harry and Ron began to protest but Hermione marched right past them and out the doors.

In Hermione's march she didn't really pay attention to the fact that somebody was just about to enter the Hospital Wing. When Hermione swung open the left door she heard somebody fall over and the door bump against something. Hermione saw Sheba hiss at the door, in the confusion the door began to close and wacked Hermione on the forehead.

"Ouch!" Hermione snapped, "Sorry..."

Hermione walked past the door to help whoever she had knocked over up. Hermione paused, Faith lay on the floor in front of her. "Faith I am so sorry."

"It's fine, Hermione. What's the rush?" Faith stood up as Sheba jumped on her shoulder.

Hermione remembered the reason for her outburst. "Where have you been for all this time? We've worried about you."

"I was talking with some of my friends." Faith said. "And you don't need to worry, I can handle myself."

* * *

**Okay. I decided to end here for some reason. Review if you like it because practically nobody has and about 503 people have viewed my stories. (Yes I read the number of polls and then add them together). Until next time, 'see ya later'.**


	4. Rarus Magicis

_Hello! Sorry it takes so long for story uploads. This chapter is about Faith's secrets. "Rarus Magicis" is Latin for "Rare Magic". "Rarus Metamorphosis" is Latin for Rare Transformation._

Faith can't do regular magic, if she does it she would immediately go through a rare case of disease-like 'infection'. But she can do _Rarus Magicis_. It is a rare type of magic that some 'wizards' and 'witches' can do instead of real magic. The rare magic is a type of magic that lets the possessor control different 'elements'. The elements include air/wind, water, rock, metal, fire/lightning, snow, and ice. The possessor can conjure and control fire and lightning but the other elements can only be controlled. Faith is strong in this style of magic and practices daily. Faith is a master of air/wind, water, rock, metal, fire (not yet lightning), snow, and ice. . Other than Faith there are only three known possessors of this type of magic, another 'witch' at Hogwarts, and two followers of Voldemort.

Faith isn't a normal animagus, she can turn into any animal of her choice. This is a special case called _Rarus Metamorphosis._ Most possessors of _Rarus Magicis_ can do this as well as other people. Though more common than _Rarus Magicis_ this type of animagus magic is still very rare with only ten participants. Faith, the other 'witch' with _Rarus Magicis_, and three other Hogwarts students have this power; with the other five participants being Death Eaters. While in the animal form Faith can speak to any animal or human, do _Rarus Magicis_ and do anything any regular animagus can.

Faith is the only _Rarus Magicis_ who is partially blind. But she can still see because she can sense vibrations and movements in the rock and metal around her. Her vision comes and goes and if feeling vibrations isn't enough, Faith can hear ten times better than any person _AND_ control how good her hearing is, from almost deaf to where she could hear a feather drop a mile away. This is very rare and Faith is the first _Rarus Magicis_to develop these techniques.

The video of the death eater attack was a fake. Faith knew Hermione was awake during the talk between her and Madame Promfrey so she played a fake video. The real reason for the scar and burn is a car crash. What happened was that while riding her bike home from school one day her bike hit a rock and pinned Faith under it. As if planning this, a _huge _truck came speeding around the corner and hit Faith. The force of the blow cracked Faith's spine in several places and caused a small fire when sparks from metal and gasoline from a leaky gas pipe. Surprisingly no explosion happened but a small burning pipe burned deeply into Faith's shoulder. Luckily a man with _Rarus Magicis _formed a metal 'brace' that could wrap almost completely around her spine without restricting her from moving in any way AND would grow with her. As another advantage the bar cannot be metal bended. The crash did leave her with a permanent burn and scar.

Faith's parents are dead. They died while in Hogsmeade with Faith. It happened when Voldemort's two benders and five Death Eaters attacked them one afternoon. One Death Eater knocked out Faith with an electrified glove. The men attacked Faith's parents with fire, electricity, rocks, and spells. When Faith's mother went unconscious by electrical shock. Faith recovered and quickly began to fight back. She was doing great; dodging attacks, beating the men when disaster striked. While Faith was fighting three wizards another came up behind her and shoved an electric glove into her back. Faith wasn't stunned and was helpless as the men killed her parents and left.

Faith has a Bible Group with a bunch of kids. They normally meet in an abandoned classroom and talk about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Bible and other things. The group consists of a little more than thirty kids and gathers at least every other day. The group does a very good job at staying on topic and occasionally practices spells and other things.

Sheba is actually Faith's animal spirit. Every person with _Rarus Metamorphagus _has one. This animal chooses that person and has a special bond with them. The 'wizard' and/or 'witch' can communicate with the animal from anywhere, also the animal can share the person's pain and ease it, wake the person with just a touch, and other things. Faith's spirit animal is an energetic and smart Maine Coon named Sheba. Rita's (the other witch with the rare magic) spirit animal is a Barn Owl named Tap. One Death Eater/Bender's animal is a Snowy Owl named Claw. The other Death Eater/Bender's animal is a Bengal named Red Eye.

* * *

_Now let's get to a bit of action. In this part of chapter 4 you find the setting is in The Deathly Hollows. It is because during the time of the Half-Blood Prince Faith and Rita had no information exchange with Harry, Ron, Hermione, or the others._

_I have dramatically changed the wedding so pay close attention._

Harry woke up to Ron's loud snores. Sharing a room with his best friend was less fun then it looked. Harry put on his glasses and checked the clock on the night stand: 6:00 a.m.

He groaned, it was another two weeks before Bill and Fleur's wedding would be held and Mrs. Weasley was working them like slaves. She was doing everything possible to keep Hermione, Harry, and Ron apart, exhausting them at the same time.

Harry got up and put on some jeans, an orange T-shirt, and a open, no sleeve jacket which he left open. Then he grabbed his wand and began walking towards the kitchen for breakfast. To his surprise a girl he never met before was walking right behind him.

She had long black hair pulled back in a loose french braid and blue eyes that had brown around the edges. She wore some tan shorts that showed her tan knees and shins and a yellow shirt that reached two inches past her belt line. "Nice to finally meet you Harry Potter." The girl said a bit too loudly.

"Uh, who are you?" Harry asked.

"I'm Rita Schneizer. I'm one of Faith's friends." The girl said proudly pointing towards an empty bedroom. "We arrived last night Tonks, Remus, and Bill picked us up from Hogwarts. They said that too many death eaters are running around so they thought it would be better for everybody to be in one place. Also we heard that Hermione, Ron, and you are planning to run away to go do something. What is it?"

"I thought Mrs. Weasley told us to not encourage anything." A voice said.

Both Harry and Rita jumped in surprise, turning to see Faith standing right next to them. How she got down the stairs without making a single one creek contines to amaze him. She now wore tan capris and a pink shirt with the words Grace written in cursive glitter on the front.

"I'm getting some breakfast." Rita said before walking off towards the kitchen.

He was about to say something else when a barn owl flew in from the room Rita had pointed out and flew right over Harry's head before going into the kitchen. Faith cat, Sheba, ran down the stairs and jumped up on Harry's shoulder before licking him once and jumping down. "What was that?" Harry asked.

"The barn owl, Tap, is Rita's 'pet' he greeted you before going to see Rita. Sheba was giving you a hello lick." Faith said as if the recent events were nothing. Then she picked up Sheba and walked into the kitchen.

Harry noticed that the back of her shirt said, "May the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ, love of God Almighty, and fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all."

Harry half-ran to the kitchen to ask why did Rita have a barn owl for a pet when he saw Mrs. Weasley cooking eggs and tea on the stove, Mr. Weasley sitting at the table reading the daily prophet, and Tonks talking to Fleur in a corner of the room. He knew better to ask when this many people were about.

Just then Hermione and Ginny walked in to the room. Hermione wearing jeans and a plain white shirt and pink jacket and Ginny wearing jeans, white shirt, and blue jacket.

"I almost have breakfast ready, go ahead and sit down." Mrs. Weasley said without looking at them.

Harry sat down next to Rita and Ginny sat down on his right. Ron appeared with jeans and a green shirt with an orange collar. Ron sat down aross from him and Hermione on his left. But Faith had disappeared, _That girl could fool a dragonfly._ Harry thought remembering how dragonflies can see in all directions at one time.

Almost on cue Faith walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Rita. Then Tap flew in and landed on the table right in front of Rita, almost knocking over a full pitcher of pumpkin juice. Rita just looked at Tap and two seconds later he flew off.

After breakfast, eggs, toast, and juice, Mrs. Weasley began giving orders. Harry, Hermione, and Ginny would have to clean up the garden, which meant get the gnomes out of it. Faith and Rita would be wrapping presents. And Ron had to help by taking wrapped presents to the garden to be organized.

* * *

Harry sat down on his bed and sighed. Him, Hermione, and Ginny had spent four hours trying to get the garden cleaned up. Luckily, Faith and Rita had come to help them after two hours and Ron after three.

Hermione and Ron walked in. "Hi Harry." Ron said before collapsing on his bed still awake. "It's like being a house elf, except with no wages at all." He muttered.

"We get it Ron." Hermione said before sitting besides Harry. Harry was about to mention their escape plan when he saw Faith walk in with Sheba close behind.

He was about to ask where Rita and Tap were when Faith said, "Rita and Tap are with George. What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Ron asked lifting his head.

"Mrs. Weasley said she wanted you three separated because of your 'little plan'. So really what are you planning?" Faith sat down next to Ron.

"Wait so you aren't going to cheat us out?" Harry asked.

"Of course not, the reason I didn't talk about it at breakfast was because there were too many adults." She said.

"Well, we learned that a person can split their soul into pieces and place them in things. The objects are called Horcruxes and can not be destroyed very easily. We are setting out to try to find the Horcruxes and destroy them because if we try to fight and kill Voldemort now, then we are still going to have to kill his Horcruxes." Ron said.

"How many are there?" Faith asked.

"Seven." Hermione said staring at Sheba.

"Wait, so he split his soul in seven pieces?" Faith asked in disbelief. "How can he live?"

"Nobody really knows, everybody thought he was dead until the Cedric accident." Harry said.

"Maybe I can join." Faith half-smiled.

"But you can't do magic." Hermione said. Harry remembered Madame Promfrey telling them that Faith can't do regular magic. Wait! What did she mean by 'regular'?

Faith hesitated, "Ever heard of rare magic?"

"No" Harry, Ron, and Hermione said in unison.

Faith suddenly turned towards the hall, "Mrs. Weasley is climbing the stairs we better pretend to be doing chores."

"How do you know-" Ron tried asking but Faith got up and walked out of the room.

They waited in silence until an agonizing five seconds later they could hear Mrs. Weasley's familiar voice saying, "Faith where are you going?"

"I just remembered that I needed to remind Rita that she needs to clean her shoes, they're starting to stink." Faith said.

"Oh all right. Where is Hermione? I need some presents wrapped."

"I can do it before I go meet Rita."

After a few seconds Mrs. Weasley said, "All right."

"That was close." Ron whispered.

Harry wasn't focused on that right now though, "Hermione have you ever heard of the 'rare magic' thing Faith mentioned."

"No I've never heard of it before." Hermione shook her head.

* * *

Harry didn't see Faith for a few hours until dinner. Right after dinner, once they were out of earshot of any adults, he pulled Faith away from the others. "What is rare magic?"

Faith glanced at the kitchen, "Meet me outside."

Then she ran off.

**I'm going to end the chapter here. Until next time, upla!**


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